Grandad Laurence Purvis, 70, is one of thousands of sufferers of pleural plaques – scarring of the lung lining – which he says was caused by being exposed to asbestos while working in the shipyards.
The Court of Appeal ruled today that people with pleural plaques can no longer be paid compensation.
The court backed insurance firms who were fighting a High Court decision to allow payments to continue for suffers.
Today's ruling has been condemned by sufferers, unions and their lawyers.
Trades union Amicus and its solicitors, Thomsons, plan to apply to the House of Lords for leave to appeal against the decision.
Mr Purvis, of Lynthorpe Grove, Fulwell, now stands to miss out on thousands of pounds in compensation.
The insurance industry argued that the 20-year-old right to compensation should be stopped because claimants usually have no physical symptoms.
But sufferers of pleural plaques say they face serious anxiety amid fears they could develop mesothelioma, an asbestos-realated lung cancer.
Mr Purvis said: "I take a very dim view of what the insurance companies are doing. We worked in good faith and our employers paid their insurances in good faith."
Mr Purvis served eight years as an apprentice electrician in various shipyards, including Doxfords and Greenwells .
He later set up his own electrical business, L Purvis, but says conditions in the yards led to a lot of exposure to asbestos
Mr Purvis, who was diagnosed with pleural plaques two years ago, said: "I've now got an asbestos-related illness and you don't know how far it will go. I've got to live with the anxiety. Every pain you get in the chest, you start to think 'Is this the start of something bigger?'.
His solicitor, Roger Maddocks, a partner in Irwin Mitchell, said: "Today's ruling is terrible news for pleural plaque sufferers. The condition is a marker of unprotected exposure to asbestos, almost always a direct result of negligence on the part of claimants' employers."
Derek Simpson, Amicus general secretary, said: "This judgment is dreadful and harms many of our members who have been exposed in their working lives to asbestos. We believe that people with pleural plaques should be compensated and we will fight on."